Improvement in cast-steel tube or ingot



"titrated tatw we iiiiinr.

Letters Patent N 97 ,953, dated December 14, 1869; mzteduiecl December 8, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAST-STEEL TUBE OR ING-OT.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

lngot; and I do hereby declare that the Following is 'a full, Clear, and exactdcscripiion 01 l he mode of produeing the same."

The object of this invention is to produce hollow ingots or tubes of liighly-carhonizcd cast-steel, which will possess all the onalitics of the best tool or cutlery-stee-l, and admit of being drawn under thehamn er or rolling-mill to the required thickness, diameter, and length, for conversion into a variety of useful articles which have hitherto been made of iron or low steel, by punching ou -welding, such, for instance, as steam-pipes, gun-barrels, boiler-fines, tubular fines, tubular shafting, hollow axles, axle-boxes, spindles, locomotive, marine, or other tines, and rings for spinning-frames and other purposes.

The ditliculty hitherto experienced in attempts at the production of hi'ghly-oarbonizml steel ingots or tubes, by casting them in moulds, is chiefly owing to the extreme brittlenessand int-ractability of steel when this charged with carbon above, say, one per ccntum, and also the porosity and imperfections of the steel after it is moulded.

These diiiieulties l have overcome, by a process or treatment which is exceedingly simple and equally ef fective.

1 will commence, by stating the several ingredients entering into the compositionot' the steel'which I prefer to use,,andtheir relative proportions.

For a pot of steel wcighing'filty pounds, I take about thirty' pounds of Peru or Swedish iron, twenty poundsof scrap-steel, five ounces of charcoal-powder, six ounces of refined manganese, and three ounces of rock-salt.

These substances are melted together until the mass attains a very high degree of heat, and becomes what is technically known as dead steel. It is then skinned, to remove these floating impurities, and allowed to stand until it is ready for pouring.

After conversion, "the steel, which is carbonized to a high degree, say one per centum, is poured from the melting-pot into a cylindric mould, of suitable dimensions, containing a core in its centre, which will produce a tube or hollow ingot.

'lho mould may be made in the usual manner for casting cast-steel ingots, with these important differences, to wit:

Near the bottom of the mould, where the two halves or sections join, small holes or conduits are made through its walls, which are designed for allowing a free escape of air from the bottom of the mould-charm her during the lilling thereof with steel, and thus'pre vent imperfect-ions in the castings, danger from explosion, or expulsion of the liquid metal from. the mould, which would be liable to occur if the air-vents were not made, stated.

The core, which is arranged centrally in the mould, may be" made of a cylindrical bar of cast-steel; or it may be made of a mixture of sand and fionr, with a hole through its centre, for allowing the upward and downward escapeof air and gas from the mould-chamber while pouring in the steel.

If the core is made of metal, the ingot, in cooling, will contract very firmly around it, and may be removed by heating and expanding by hammering; and if the core ismade of sand, it can be readily broken up and cleared out of the ingot, after the latter has cooled.

I attribute my success in the production of highlycarbonized steel castings, chiefly to the free escape of air and gas from the mould during the operation of pouring the metal therein. vIn the case of the hollow sand core, the air. and gas will pass off freely through it, and may be observed, in the form of blue flame, issuing from each end of the core; and in the case of the metal corc,..the air csapes from the mould, near its base.

Hollow ingots thus produced will be highly carbonized, and when properly heated, may be drawn, by hammering or rolling them, and a great variety of useful articles may 'be produced from them, without weld 01' seam.

Having described my invention,

, \Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let: ters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, a cast-steel tube, which is produced substantially as described.

0. B. MORSE. Witnesses JULIUs Huison', R. '1. CAMPBELL. 

